It’s spring, and Billy Beane is stoked

A’s executive vice president Billy Beane had a busy offseason, including a revamp of the bullpen, headed by closer Sean Doolittle (right).

A’s executive vice president Billy Beane had a busy offseason,...

MESA, Ariz. — I walked out of Billy Beane’s office Friday morning picking the A’s to win. Not the wild card or the division, but the whole damn thing.

I came to my senses later, but the A’s effusive executive vice president of baseball operations can have that effect on people. This is his favorite time of the year, a time when anything seems possible. Undaunted by months of depressing developments, Beane and general manager David Forst worked all winter to change the look and the feel of this year’s club. He worked harder than the uber-rich Dodgers and got a lot more done. The result really isn’t about a pennant race in September, but a series of smart-looking trades and a group of young players that cannot be ignored.

There’s nothing like an infusion of youth to whitewash the past, and that has always been the essence of Beane’s strategy. The sight of veteran stardom is largely an illusion in Oakland, the province of revolving-door transition against the backdrop of a ridiculously low payroll and cheapskate owners who have the funds to spend lavishly but rarely do so.

Just now, the A’s fan is tormented by disturbing images: Josh Donaldson, Yoenis Céspedes, Jon Lester, Billy Butler. The ever-gambling Beane is methodically rebounding from a losing streak that makes one forget the clever maneuverings and postseason appearances of recent vintage. Fans complained loudly last season and well into autumn, many swearing they’d never attend another game or even watch on television, but most will relent. Giving up on baseball, even in difficult times, is just a very bad idea.

We’re in the early stages of a troubling new era, a distinct sense that the most downtrodden teams will “tank” the coming season to get in position for high draft picks. In the National League alone, that ugly label has been applied to Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, San Diego, Atlanta and Colorado. Nobody’s giving up in April, but the game’s current climate suggests a long-range approach for talent-stripped clubs.

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That will not happen in Oakland. Beane won’t ever think that way, and he was so upbeat in Friday’s interview, you’d swear he was entering 2016 with a flock of All-Stars.

“This is a great job,” he said. “It would be easy to not work here, but I love working for the A’s. I never get tired of the challenges. Maybe I’m sort of pollayanna here, and maybe nobody else (outside the organization) thinks so, but I don’t know if I’ve come into a year feeling so good about our chances to win. It’s a tough division (the AL West). Every team is good. But if we get the pitching, and we stay healthy, I like our chances.

“The one thing we’ve never done is say, ‘Hey, we’re just gonna punt.’ It’s not in our DNA, and our market’s not gonna allow it. We’ve got one of the most successful franchises in the game across the Bay. We can’t just cash it in, tell people we’ll see ’em in five years. Besides, I hate losing. If we had to go with young players and lose a lot of games, for a lot of years — I’d be jumping off a cliff. (Manager Bob) Melvin and I have no problem winning games late in the year, with a team going nowhere, even if means us dropping two slots in the draft. We’re just too competitive.”

Beane impressively revamped his bullpen, with a healthy Sean Doolittle ready to close, while adding outfield power (Khris Davis) and versatility (Chris Coghlan). Sean Manaea, who struck out four batters in two scoreless innings against the Rockies on Friday, is an intimidating, 6-foot-5 left-hander described by Bruce Maxwell, one of his minor-league catchers, as “a Samoan Randy Johnson.” (Still a bit raw, Manaea has a chance to be called up at some point during the season.)

What has caught every scout’s attention in Arizona, though, is the A’s infield of the future: first basemen Renato Nuñez and Matt Olson, second baseman Joey Wendle, shortstop Franklin Barreto and third baseman Matt Chapman, a powerfully built Cal State Fullerton alum who plays elite defense and crushed a big-boy homer in an instrasquad game the other day, rocketing it some 420 feet to the opposite field.

“Our scouting department has done a good job for a long time,” Beane said. “Over the years, we’re right near the top when it comes to sending drafted players to the major leagues. Our people have been together so long, they’re not afraid to be wrong, because they’re not fearful of being fired. We actually joke around about it when we screw up. “

Even the casual A’s fan knows the jovial Beane has a flip side, a wicked temper when things go wrong, his competitive side flaring like a flamethrower.

“People may not see it,” he said. “I may be hiding behind this thing. And I’ve been pretty wise about that. Everybody’s got a camera now, everything’s on video. That’s why I go work out by myself. Only a few people can come in there.

“It’s always my right-hand guys: Paul (DePodesta, who has switched sports to the Cleveland Browns), Farhan (Zaidi, now with the Dodgers), and now Dave (Forst). Years ago, I was one of the few guys who could be in a room with Sandy (Alderson, Beane’s protege). He’s even worse than I am. So it’s an inherited trait (laughter).”

It’s a trait the A’s fans should cherish, in despair and in bliss. Pure desire never goes out of style.